Why We Do What We Do
by smileaway96
Summary: Maybe these runs are getting old. Maybe there's not much reason to them anymore. Some make the challenge to prove who's best, others will take the challenge to prove who can have more fun. Perhaps there's not much fun to be had, and yet, perhaps there's much more to these challenges. Or, you know, maybe not. Oneshot. Please review!


The blue blur reared, balancing his weight between his bent front leg, and the outstretched back leg. The rest of his body crouched forward, his arms and hands perched on his front knee. He paused to take a moment to look out into the illumniated city as the horizon grew darker and darker. The skyscrapers began blasting their bright colors, showing off to the sky like a child to its mother. Sonic, when embarking on these little city runs, would often imagine that the skyline was cheering him on.

"Sometime tonight would be ideal," came the snide voice from Sonic's left. He turned to see Shadow's undoubtedly cross gaze piercing through the enveloping darkness, being the only thing that he could see. Sonic chuckled.

"All in good time, Shads,"he replied good-heartedly, tapping his back foot on the ground. "I'm only daydreaming about how welcoming that finish line will look."

"It won't look nearly as welcoming when I cross it first," the dark hedgehog snapped, his face a dark blur of contempt.

"Whatever you say," Sonic replied, and then shot off like a rocket. Shadow followed suit, taking off.

Sonic's feet pounded against the hard pavement as he bolted towards the city's inviting gaze, watching as the cars whizzed past, only backwards to him. Zigzagging in and out of the road lanes was a breeze, and the hedgehog knew the city so well now that he might as well could have turned around and ran backwards. The hedgehogs ran neck and neck through a traffic tunnel, finally bringing light to the dark hedgehog's expression of sheer determination. Both racers appeared and disappeared as the lights came and went, spilling dim yellow lights over each face. Both hedgehogs rushed out of the tunnel and entered back into the light pollution of Central City.

Sonic' heart raced along with his legs, keeping the rhythm and occasionally speeding it up. His breath followed suit, each tiny bit of smoggy air pumping through his chest in quick compressions. As he saw the near-invisible figure of Shadow suddenly gain speed and grow further apart from him, Sonic gritted his teeth in an open smirk and quickened his own pace.

"Tired, faker?" Shadow called through the sounds of car horns and rushing wind. Sonic avoided taking deep gulps of air and extended his arms, shrugging.

"I guess you might say I'm a bit winded," he replied, hopping casually over a mailbox.

"Is that a forfeit I hear?" came the deep, mocking voice again as he jumped two car lengths ahead. Sonic caught up quickly and turned to face Shadow, a smirk crossing his face again.

"Keep dreaming, kiddo!"

With that said, the blue blur sped into the lead, swerving around more cars and dodging people around him. He could almost feel the burning gaze of Shadow behind him, a feeling that he'd grown rather used to since they'd first met each other.

Sonic approached a roundabout, and, being the cheeky showoff that he was, zoomed around it a few times for the sake of Shadow's irritation. As predicted, Shadow skated past, giving an audible "hmph" that translated roughly to, "Be serious for once, willya?" Shrugging, the blue hedgehog chased after Shadow. His heartbeat continued to keep the rhythm for his breath and each slap of his shoes on the pavement as he hopped over the curb and ran alongside the road on the sidewalk.

When he looked over at Shadow, Sonic realized that his face had gotten somehow even more intense than it had been before. The black hedgehog's eyes were locked forward, his lips pulled apart to two snarling rows of clenched teeth.

 _Typical_ , thought Sonic with an added chuckle.

Looking forward himself, Sonic weaved in and out of groups of people, apologizing cheerfully each time he did so. He promptly noticed why Shadow had gone fully determined—the finish line lay directly ahead of them, with people cheering and pumping their fists in the air, most cheering on Sonic. Thrilled and motivated by the support, Sonic began his final sprint towards the end of road.

Every final step counted in this race, and Sonic found himself taking them more and more carefully each time, though the speed never decreased. With one more glance at Shadow, Sonic met eyes with the cold glare, and winked.

"Tired, faker?" he called, just for the sake of mocking out his rival. Shadow simply narrowed his eyes and continued ahead.

They approached the final hundred feet . . . fifty feet . . . twenty feet . . .

The ribbon tore in two as the winner passed through it. Sonic lifted his arms and did a celebratory spindash, circling himself around and facing his opponent.

"It's a tie again!" Tails called from the sidelines, "You know, I can't understand why you two even have these races anymore."

Sonic and Shadow both whirled around to see that the ribbon had been ripped clear off of the two thin trees it was attched to, so it would have been impossible to tell just by staring at it who had won the race.

"There must have been one winner," Shadow panted, the fur on his chest heaving with each deep breath of air he took.

"Yeah, bud, we go through all this just for a tie?" Sonic asked Tails, giving him a noogie in his hype. Tails laughed, appearing unfazed by the playful gesture.

"It's not my fault you guys run at the same speed!" he protested. "Maybe you'll both have to accept the fact that you'll never know who will be faster."

"You know this sour fellow would never accept that; he's too conceited," Rouge chimed in, hovering a few feet in the air just to lean her arm on Shadow's head.

The dark hedgehog batted at his companion in an attempt to shoo her away from his head. When she chuckled and playfully kicked him in the back, Shadow growled.

"Conceited, perhaps, but slower than an irritating little faker, never," the dark hedgehog retorted. "Perhaps another day, then. I appreciate the challenge."

"What's that?" Sonic asked, putting a hand to his ear, "I'm sorry, for a second it sounded like you were actually being polite."

"And for a second only," Shadow snapped in reply. With that, he and Rouge promptly left, leaving without a goodbye.

"You know, Sonic, I don't think it matters how fast you guys are," Tails piped up as Sonic sat on the ground to regain some of his breath. "I still think you're better."

"Naturally," replied his "big brother", "but why would you say that?"

"Well, it's obvious that you have more fun and put more hard work into these races. Your work is more genuine." Tails explained. "And Shadow, given his biological makeup, doesn't need to put the effort in to racing as much as you do."

Sonic smiled and laid back into the grass, staring at the few stars that had begun to peek out from the light pollution.

"I guess that's just the way we roll," he said with a satisfied smile.


End file.
